Christmas Resolution
by Starlight Rose
Summary: A short side story to an Unfinished Task. Two friendly spirits help Touya and Syaoran come to terms with each other.
1. Conflict

Christmas Resolution: Part 1/2  
By: Starlight Rose  
Rated: G  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
A.N. No I'm not dead. I warned that I would be taking a break from fanfic writing for a bit, but now I'm back. I've been really busy lately with college and then finals, but I'm done with all of it now or at least for three weeks. The epilogue of "An Unfinished Task" has been rewritten from the airport scene one. If you haven't read it yet, I think you should because it's much better and more detailed. It has about five more pages to it due to me adding or expanding scenes. I'm also going to start another long CCS fic soon. I'm really excited about this one. It'll be a retelling of the Grimm's fairytale "Thousand Furs". I'll be changing a lot of the beginning and end to fit more with the characters, but the basic storyline will come from the story. So look forward to that story. Well on with the story. This story is mainly concerned with Touya and Syaoran (I'm feeling guilty about not having more of Touya and Yukito in the other story) and it'll be two parts. It's just a short story.  
  
*****************************  
  
Ring! Ring! Ring! The phone rang imperatively before a dark haired man around his mid-twenties went to pick it up. "Moshi moshi, Kinomoto desu." He drawled into the phone casually.   
  
"Ohayo, onii-chan!" a cheerful voice on the other end of the line answered.  
  
"Oh. Ohayo, Kaiju. You're up early." Kinomoto Touya replied smiling as he pictured his younger sister on the other end fuming at his pet name for her. He soon got the reaction he was expecting.  
  
"I'm not a monster!" Sakura screamed into the phone.  
  
Touya winced in pain as he pulled the phone from his ear. His sister may have been eighteen years old, but she still acted like a little kid at times. He had to admit though, all those years of cheerleading had helped her to develop a strong set of lungs of which he was currently learning how to not appreciate. "Whatever. So, why are you calling me today?"   
  
Touya could almost picture his sister perking up, as she replied, "Well I was planning on going Christmas shopping tomorrow and I was wondering if you and Yukito-san wanted to join me and the others."  
  
Touya thought about it for a bit before asking, "Who else is going?"  
  
"Well Tomoyo-chan and Soujiro-kun are coming along and..." Sakura's voice trailed off.  
  
"And. Who?" Touya prodded already knowing he wouldn't like the answer.  
  
"And Syaoran." Sakura finished, hesitation filling her voice.  
  
A vein popped out on Touya's head at the mention of the Chinese boy's name. "You expect me to go around with you with that gaki coming along?"  
  
"He is not a brat!" Sakura replied indignantly defending her boyfriend, "And yes I want you to come along. I know you and him don't get along that well, but I really wish you two would at least try. This is a good chance for you to try and get to know him better."  
  
"I don't need to get to know him better." Touya retorted stubbornly.  
  
"Onegai...onii-chan. Please come." Sakura tried once more putting as much pleading into her voice as she could.  
  
Touya sighed warily as he pictured her on the other end giving him puppy dog eyes. He cursed his weakness for his sister and how she could get him to do anything for her even when she was not physically present. Finally with a resigned air he answered, "Fine. What time are we meeting?"   
  
"Would tomorrow at ten in the morning be okay for you?" Sakura asked all her cheerfulness restored.  
  
"Hai." Touya practically growled.  
  
"Great! Then we'll meet you at the mall at ten-tomorrow morning. Ja ne, onii-chan!" Sakura said and hung up before Touya could have a chance to change his mind.  
  
Touya tiredly hung up the phone as Yukito's voice came from the kitchen, "Oi, To-ya, breakfast is ready!"  
  
Touya walked into the kitchen and sat down in his chair looking extremely grumpy and dissatisfied. Looking carefully at his lover Yukito asked in worried tone, "Who was that on the phone?"  
  
"Sakura." Touya replied tersely.  
  
"Oh. It's nice to hear from Sakura-chan again. What did she want?"  
  
"She invited us to go shopping with us and her friends tomorrow."  
  
"Really? That's wonderful. It's been several months since I last saw her, but why do you seem unhappy about it?" Yukito asked clearly being able to read Touya's mood.  
  
"She's bringing that Chinese gaki with her."  
  
"Syaoran-kun, you mean? I didn't know he had returned from Hong Kong."  
  
"Un. He got back a few months ago, I remember her mentioning it. I can't believe he has the nerve to come back after all these years." Touya growled as he thought about the pain that Syaoran's leaving had caused his younger sister. Though he had to admit one good thing came from the brat. He hadn't needed to worry about Sakura dating anyone all through high school because she still missed the gaki. That at least saved him a lot of trouble scaring away Sakura's prospective boyfriends since she wasn't interested in any of them to begin with, though he did have to scare off a few persistent ones. Though Touya realized with dismay that this particular one would not be scared off by him.  
  
Yukito smiled as he realized why Touya was so annoyed, "The onii-chan still doesn't want to let go of his imouto, does he? You really do have a sister complex, don't you?"  
  
"I don't see why she likes him so much. I mean he left her for several years and during that time she was miserable."  
  
"But he's back now right? That means that he does care for her."  
  
"Yeah. But still I don't trust him to take care of her yet. He hasn't proven to me that he really loves her enough yet." Touya replied.  
  
*****************************  
  
"Syaoran!" Sakura yelled as she barged into Syaoran's room. She knew Syaoran had a habit of leaving his door unlocked just incase she needed him for some reason. After the event with Christian he never got a new roommate and he also didn't trust Sakura to stay out of danger. So he left his door unlocked so she could call on him anytime she was in trouble. Unfortunately though this time she almost wished he had locked his door. Almost, but not quite considering what she got to see. Sakura's face turned bright red and her eyes about popped out of her head as she saw Syaoran standing before her wearing only a towel. Beads of water glistened on his wet skin and a towel that he was using to dry off his hair was in his hand as he stood there looking at her in shock and embarrassment. Sakura just stared at Syaoran's muscular body clothed with only a towel around his waist before realizing what she was doing and turning quickly around screaming, "Gomen ne! I think I'll try and remember to knock next time."  
  
Realizing the position he was in and the fact that he was standing in front of Sakura wearing only a towel, Syaoran blushed red as a tomato. With an almost audible groan of horror he quickly secured the towel around his waist, picked up his clothes that were on his bed, and ran back into the bathroom. He re-emerged a few minutes later still blushing furiously, but this time clad in a pair of black jeans and a dark green button up shirt that remained open at the collar revealing some of his muscular chest. The towel that he was using to dry his hair hung around his neck and the towel that was covering more sensitive areas was nowhere to be seen. He noticed as he left the bathroom that Sakura was still standing turned towards the door. Chuckling slightly to himself he told her, "It's okay Sakura. You can turn around now. I'm decent. It was my fault for not locking the door."  
  
Still blushing Sakura tentatively turned around and Syaoran couldn't help a small chuckle aloud as he noticed that she still had her eyes glued shut. Walking over to her he grabbed her face gently in his hand and watched as Sakura slowly opened her emerald eyes to see Syaoran peering at her with a small grin on his face. Gently so as not to embarrass her Syaoran asked, "So why were you running into my room so urgently? Is something wrong?"  
  
Smiling sheepishly at him, Sakura replied, "Well no. It's just that, I wanted to tell you that onii-chan and Yukito will be joining us tomorrow."  
  
Syaoran visibly paled at the mention of Touya as he thought about the imposing young man that had seemed to have always hated him. Syaoran supposed that he couldn't blame the guy for not liking him, considering that the first time Touya saw him he was picking on Sakura. The guessed that Touya had figured that things had changed between Syaoran and Sakura, but even Syaoran knew that first impressions are long lasting. He sighed warily, let Sakura's face go, and turned away, "If Touya is going to be there maybe I shouldn't go."  
  
"No. You need to come. I know you don't get along well with onii-chan, but you should at least try to. This is a good chance for you to get to know him a bit better." Sakura pleaded.  
  
"Sakura, I would love to get along better with your brother, but I don't think it'll work. There's something that I'm doing that he doesn't like me for."  
  
"I know, but you two haven't seen each other in years. Maybe things will change. His agreeing to come with us means he's willing to at least try and be around you. Maybe he wants to get to know you better and you two will end up liking each other."  
  
"I doubt it. He's probably coming along to watch over you and make sure I don't try anything."  
  
"Please Syaoran. For me." Sakura pleaded with as much sincerity as she could.  
  
Syaoran turned around to tell her that it would be no use, but realized his mistake as soon as he did so. Sakura stood before with him emerald eyes shining with almost tears in her eyes. She turned the full effect of her puppy dog eyes on him and Syaoran felt his heart melt and heard himself saying, "Alright." before he realized what he had said.   
  
Sakura brightened immediately and hugged him impulsively saying, "It won't be that bad. I promise. I'll be there with you and onii-chan wouldn't do anything bad to you."  
  
"I hope so. I really you're right." Syaoran replied hugging her back.  
  
*****************************  
  
Christian Mauler watched the scene taking place before him with Sakura and Syaoran and couldn't help but laugh as he watched Sakura barge in on a half-naked Syaoran. He had meant to warn her, but couldn't do it in time. He caught someone floating next to him watching the two also and a gentle feminine laugh that startled him a bit before he turned. He smiled at the spirit of a beautiful lavender-haired woman with green eyes floating next to him. Kinomoto Nadeshiko smiled back at him and remarked, "I guess you couldn't warn her in time. You know she used to not be able to see spirits, but only feel us. After her fight with that daemon though she's become stronger."  
  
"Yes. I'm glad something good came out of that and all the trouble I caused her." Christian replied saddened by the reminder of the daemon.   
  
"I don't know. I think more than a little good came from it. Sakura now has two spirits watching over her happiness now. You shouldn't feel guilty for the things that thing did." Nadeshiko told him knowing what he was thinking.  
  
"Nadeshiko-san, can I ask you a question?" Christian said.   
  
"Go right ahead."  
  
"Well, I was just noticing that Sakura-san's onii-chan and Syaoran-kun don't seem to get along with each other. I mean Sakura-san's onii-chan reacted badly to the news of Syaoran's coming along and Syaoran-kun is now reacting badly to him coming along. Why is that?"   
  
"I died when Sakura was only three. Since then Touya has been really protective of her. She is probably the most precious thing in the world to him. I remember when she was born Touya swore he would always protect her. He has watched over her and protected her all his life. Well when Sakura started capturing cards, Touya was really worried about her, but Sakura never told him what was going on. Touya suspected but never told her and Sakura never knew that he had some idea of what was going on until later when he gave his power to Yue. He couldn't protect her while she was capturing cards because she didn't tell him about it. In a lot of ways he felt hurt when she didn't tell him, but he tried to help her however he could.   
  
"Later when Syaoran-kun came, he didn't make the best impression on Touya because when Touya saw him he was trying to take the cards from Sakura. So those two really disliked each other from the start and whenever they saw each other they would always get into glaring contests. It was actually somewhat funny watching them and you'll probably get to see it tomorrow. But back to the subject now, Touya saw that Syaoran was often with Sakura after that helping her to capture the cards and felt jealous that she trusted Syaoran-kun but not him.  
  
"He slowly saw Syaoran-kun becoming friends with Sakura and then falling in love with Sakura. He felt that Syaoran-kun was stealing his imouto away from him and he couldn't forgive him for that even though he knew that Syaoran-kun would never intentionally hurt Sakura. But eventually he was willing to accept that Sakura liked him though he didn't like losing Sakura. For her happiness he was willing to give her up, even if he didn't like the person.  
  
"But when Syaoran-kun left Tomoeda and returned to Hong Kong, it left Sakura very depressed and sad. Touya was upset at Syaoran-kun now for first taking his precious imouto away from him and then making her sad by leaving. So now he still doesn't like Syaoran-kun any better because he wants to be the one protecting Sakura."  
  
"So that's why Sakura's onii-chan doesn't like Syaoran-kun. And knowing Syaoran, he doesn't like being threatened and challenged." Christian commented understanding the situation now.  
  
Nadeshiko sighed, "Yes, but those two really shouldn't be such enemies with each other. They are so much alike in many ways. The most important thing to both of them is Sakura's happiness and protecting her happiness. They both love her and they only dislike each other because they see each other as competition."  
  
"Yeah they are very alike. Both of them were willing to give her up for her happiness, and they both have hot tempers too. Maybe if they had a chance to talk to each other alone, they could come to understand each other and get along." Christian suggested.  
  
"Yes, but they would never willingly talk to each other alone." Nadeshiko pointed out.  
  
"Well then they will just have to do it unwillingly." Christian said a mischievous gleam appearing in his eyes.  
  
Nadeshiko quirked a fine eyebrow at him before catching his intent and smiling herself and replying, "I guess we will have to get them to do it unwillingly won't we?"  
  
"Un. For Sakura-san's happiness. If they can get along I'm sure she'll be even happier than she is now and I want to see her happy. Tomorrow would be a good time." Christian added.  
  
"Yes, we'll have to arrange something to get them alone together tomorrow. There's no guarantee that they'll talk with each other, but it is worth a try." Nadeshiko agreed her eyes gleaming with mischief as well.  



	2. Resolution

Christmas Resolution: Part 2/2  
By: Starlight Rose  
Rated: G  
Email: starlighto_rose@hotmail.com  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or any of it's characters, but I do own the characters of Christian and Soujiro so don't use them without my permission. I'm just a penniless college student so suing me won't get you any money.  
  
A.N. It's 5:00 AM and I'm exhausted. I've been typing and working on this since 11:00 PM and I'm finally done and in time for Christmas too. After retrieving four pages out of my eight pages from my beta-reader, Saturn_Knight4, I've been working on this during whatever free time I have. It's finally done and I'm very happy though I'm still PO'ed at my father for erasing my unfinished second part. Please read and review, and if I don't get at least twenty reviews on this then I'll think that people are not interested in nor like my writing that much so, I won't bother writing CCS fics anymore. That'll be a shame since I had a great idea for another fic. I hate resorting to threats but I can honestly say that writing doesn't really give me as much joy as it does other authors. I enjoy it to some extent, but after a while it gets tedious for me to continue a story. The only thing that really keeps me writing is reader response. I'll write that other fic of course, but at a slow pace and I probably won't post it. So be a good reader and review.  
  
*****************************  
  
Syaoran stood at looking at the entrance of the mall with dread-filled eyes. He was about to be dragged into what he anticipated to be an experience worse than hell. Having had gone through the experience with his sisters before he was not looking forward to the trip. He had only agreed to go because Sakura had begged him to, but now looking at what he had gone through just to get a parking space, he wondered if even his love for Sakura was worth what he would have to endure that day. Not only was he going to have a day full of being pushed and shoved around by shoppers frantically trying to buy gifts a few days before Christmas, but he would also be doing it in the presence of one of the people he feared most, Kinomoto Touya (although he would never show it of course). Turning to look at his girlfriend he tried one last desperate attempt, "Sakura, do I really need to come with you? I mean I could just stay out in the car. Shopping really is not something I enjoy."  
  
"But Syaoran, you promised to go with me today. Today is not just for shopping. We are meeting with onii-chan and Yukito-san, too. I haven't seen either of them in months and you haven't seen them in years." Sakura replied grabbing his arm to keep him from turning around and leaving.  
  
Syaoran sighed in defeat, noticing as he did so the sympathetic look that Soujiro was casting him. Syaoran guessed that the captain of the kendo club had probably gone through the same thing with Tomoyo earlier in the day. Bowing his head he whispered, "I don't really have a choice then, do I?"   
  
Sakura shook her head cheerfully and dragged her reluctant boyfriend into the melee known as the mall during Christmas shopping season. Syaoran merely took a deep fortifying breath of air before submitting to his love's will.  
  
*****************************  
  
Touya weaved his way through the swirling chaos of the Christmas shopping season with Yukito close by his side. Sighing tiredly after being jostled by a frantic shopper for the fifth time in what seemed to him less than a minute he turned to Yukito and asked, "Why do I have to be here?"  
  
Yukito looked up at him, smiled, and replied in what Touya thought was an all too cheerful voice, "Because you promised Sakura-chan that you'd come so that you can learn to get along with Syaoran-kun better."  
  
"The kaiju will probably forgive me if I don't show up. I'm tired of this. I have all my holiday shopping done." Touya replied grouchily.   
  
"Ahh...but I haven't. I didn't know that Syaoran-kun was back so I still need to get a gift for him." Yukito replied.  
  
"Why do you need to get a gift for that gaki?" Touya asked.  
  
"Because he is the one that Sakura-chan likes best."   
  
Touya winced visibly at that comment and retorted, "Well you go ahead and go shopping. I think I'll go back and wait in the car. Anyway we'll never find them in this mess."  
  
Yukito brightened visibly and replied, "That's not true. There they are over there. Sakura-chan is waving to us right now, so it's too late for you to leave."  
  
Touya sighed as his lover led him over to his imouto. He could have sworn that Yukito had a sadistic streak once in a while and that this was definitely one of them. The horror of holiday shopping had kept him away from the mall for the past two weeks and now he was being forced into at just about the worst time. And to top it all off he was going to have to spend time with the Chinese gaki and watch Sakura with the brat. But he thought maliciously, "At least I can keep them from getting too close to each other today."  
  
*****************************  
  
Syaoran sighed with relief as he thought, "Touya hasn't arrived yet, maybe he's not coming after all." They had been in the mall for about ten minutes looking around trying to find Touya and Yukito since Sakura mentioned that she forgot to tell Touya where to meet them. Syaoran hoped that maybe after another few minutes of searching Sakura would give up and he would be allowed to escape back to the car. Unfortunately, he had no such luck. Just as he was about to suggest that he return to the car he heard Sakura scream, "Oh there they are!"  
  
Sakura started to wave frantically in the direction that Syaoran saw Yukito and Touya. Syaoran watched with dread as Yukito noticed her and waved back and the couple approached the group. Gritting his teeth in anticipation, Syaoran prepared himself to enter upon one of Touya and his infamous glaring competitions. He wasn't disappointed.  
  
As soon as Touya arrived the electricity began to fly as the two glared at each other. Yukito in his normal friendly manner diffused the tension slightly by bowing to Syaoran and saying, "Ma, it's been a long time since I've last seen you. I'm glad to see that you are doing well." Touya just grunted.  
  
Forced to turn his attention away from Touya briefly, Syaoran bowed politely to Yukito, ignoring Touya for the moment, and replied, "Arigatou."  
  
Sakura seeing that re-introductions were more or less made suggested that they go ahead and start shopping. Grabbing Touya with one arm and Syaoran with the other, she began walking into the nearest store chattering about all the gifts she needed to get people. Grunting in compliance the two young men walked next to her and glared at each other over Sakura's oblivious head. Yukito followed by Touya's side and Tomoyo, holding her video camera and recording the onii-chan and the koibito's reunion, followed behind them with Soujiro by her side. Soujiro shook his head realizing that he was probably the most normal one of the group.  
  
They shopped for about an hour without making much progress on either the shopping or Touya and Syaoran's relationship. Sakura remained as cheerful as always not noticing anything was wrong. Sakura had managed to buy presents for Chiharu-chan and Rika-chan and although they weren't talking to each other at least Syaoran and Touya weren't being openly hostile towards each other. Of course Sakura failed to notice that whenever she looked at them the two dueling men would stop glaring at each other and pretend to be indifferent towards each other.  
  
*****************************  
  
Christian sighed. He had never before experienced the holiday shopping season before seeing as how he got possessed by the daemon somewhere around seven hundred years ago. At that time Christmas had apparently been a much simpler affair since shopping malls had not yet been invented yet. Watching Syaoran, Soujiro, and Touya shopping with their loved ones, Christian almost felt grateful to the daemon for keeping him from the experience. He had been following the group around for over an hour and still no chance to trap Syaoran and Touya alone together had appeared. "Even spirits get tired." Christian mused to himself.   
  
Getting bored with watching the group shop he floated down to get a closer look at what Sakura and Syaoran were looking at when he heard Tomoyo gasp. He looked over at the dark-haired girl as Sakura looked at her and asked, "Nani desu ka?"  
  
"Nan desu yo." Tomoyo replied quickly. She was had her camera aimed right at Christian. Suddenly Christian realized that she could see him. He had heard that cameras were supposed to be able to capture a person's soul so why couldn't they see spirits. Christian smiled at the dark-haired girl and pointed at himself trying to affirm whether or not she could see him. He didn't want to say anything since he didn't want to attract the attention of anyone else in the group. He knew Sakura could probably feel and see him and he knew she would help him, but he didn't want to alert Syaoran of his presence since he didn't know if the Chinese warrior could. Tomoyo nodded her head in reply to his silent question.  
  
Christian grinned as a plan formed in his mind. He motioned for Tomoyo to wait for him a bit and then flew off to find Nadeshiko. After finding her watching over Fujitaka who saw him and smiled kindly, he pulled her away to whisper his plan into her ear. Nadeshiko smiled as she informed Fujitaka that she would be going to watch Sakura and Touya now. Fujitaka nodded his head in understanding and the two spirits flew back to the mall.  
  
When they got back to the mall, Christian appeared in front of Tomoyo who smiled sweetly at him. Using hand motions he tried to convey his plan to her. He pointed to Syaoran and Touya and then pointed to the elevators, and he then pointed to everyone else and pointed towards the other directions. Tomoyo nodded her head in understanding and grinned mischievously as well.   
  
*****************************  
  
Syaoran sighed. He was looking at a book that Sakura was planning on getting Yamazaki. It was a book of weird historical facts and Syaoran was trying to patiently explain to his girlfriend why giving Yamazaki that book for Christmas was a bad idea and tried to persuade her to get him something like a sweater or a tie. Kami only knew giving Yamazaki a book for him to get more of his stories from was the last thing Syaoran needed. Syaoran knew how gullible he could be and also how gullible Sakura could be and given how Yamazaki also knew that, Syaoran didn't even want to think of the consequences.   
  
Near him he felt the presence of Christian Mauler appear. He ignored the presence considering that he had felt that presence around Sakura and himself quite often after the incident. He supposed it was the boy's spirit trying to watch over them to atone for what he had done to them. Syaoran had begrudgingly forgiven Christian for all the trouble he had caused considering the boy was not the one at fault so he generally ignored the ghostly presence. He continued to try and persuade his koibito from buying the book, but to no avail. Once Sakura had her mind set on something there was no persuading her otherwise. "If there was," he mused, "I wouldn't be here right now with Touya glaring at me threatening death every time I got too close to Sakura." Of course it didn't help any that Touya's definition of "too close" was anything within a five-foot radius of the girl.  
  
After Sakura had resolutely bought the book for Yamazaki, Tomoyo suggested that they go take a short break and pointed everyone towards the fountains next to the elevator. Around the fountains were several benches to sit in. Everyone except for Touya and Syaoran whole-heartedly agreed. The two not agree with everyone else because they didn't want to seem to agree with each other, so they both stayed silent and continued to glare at each other.  
  
The group walked over to sit and rest on the benches for a few moments. Touya stayed standing leaning on the side of the elevator shaft as Syaoran sat down next to Sakura with Tomoyo and Soujiro on her other side. They were only sitting for a couple of minutes before Tomoyo suddenly stood up and exclaimed, "Oh no! I remember now what I forgot to do. I still haven't gotten Touya-san and Li-kun's Christmas gift and it's only a few days before Christmas." She turned to look at Syaoran and Touya with a pleading look on her face and asked them, "Do you two mind waiting here while I go buy your gifts?"  
  
Soujiro looked at his girlfriend wordlessly, but his countenance was puzzled. Touya looked at the pleading dark-haired girl that he knew to be his second cousin who he almost thought of as a sister and replied, "You don't need to worry about getting me a gift Tomoyo-chan. You've always taken care of Sakura for me and that's enough." Syaoran nodded his head in agreement to Touya's comment, though loathed to agree with the older man.  
  
Tomoyo shook her head empathetically, "NO it wouldn't be right. Sakura-chan, Yukito-san, you two know Li-kun and Touya-san best. Could you help me pick out a present for them?"  
  
Yukito smiled at the dark-haired girl, smiled gently, and replied, "Of course I'll help you Tomoyo-chan." Turning to Sakura who was giving Tomoyo an affirming nod, Yukito reached his hand out to her and asked sweetly, "Shall we go Sakura-chan?"  
  
Sakura looked up at the man that was her childhood crush and nodded in assent. She placed her hand gently in his and allowed him to pull her to her feet. Looking at Tomoyo questioningly she asked, "Where do you want to go Tomoyo-chan?"  
  
Tomoyo smiled at her friend as she looped her arm possessively around Soujiro's and pointed to there left. "Let's try that shop over there first." The other three nodded and began heading in that direction when Syaoran's voice stopped them.  
  
"You can't leave me here alone with HIM!" Syaoran intoned angrily. Touya glared at the younger boy and nodded his agreement. Neither looked happy about the situation. Syaoran not only did not look happy about the situation, but he looked furious. He had only agreed to go on this trip because Sakura had assured him that he would be with her most of the time and never left alone with Touya, but that plan was quickly falling through. He also felt a twinge of jealousy at seeing his girlfriend on the arm of both his and her old crush. He wanted to be the one walking arm in arm with her. It didn't help him much when it seemed that Touya didn't mind the attentions that his best friend were paying to his younger sister. Nor did she seem to mind the attentions for that matter.   
  
Tomoyo looked back at the two and smiled sweetly at them before replying, "Don't worry. We won't be long." and then she walked off with the rest of the group. Syaoran gave a dejected sigh before sinking down onto the bench below him and running an irritated hand through his hair. He watched with apprehension at the group's retreating back. He glanced to his side at the scowling Touya and grimaced. It would be a long hour or however long it took for them to finish shopping for their gifts.  
  
As Tomoyo walked away she giggled at the stunned and disgruntled expressions on Touya and Syaoran's faces. Soujiro looked questioningly at her before leaning over and whispering in her ear, "I thought you already got your gifts for Touya-san and Li-kun?"  
  
Tomoyo smiled brightly at him and replied, "I did, but it's okay. Getting them another gift won't hurt and they need to be left alone to talk. I think something good will happen."  
  
Soujiro looked at her dubiously, but decided not to say anything since he knew it would be no use in convincing her that it might not be a good idea.  
  
*****************************  
  
The backs of the group had disappeared for only a few moments when the elevator behind Syaoran gave a loud ding as it's doors opened. Syaoran got up to look curiously at it. No one exited the elevator. Syaoran knew for a fact that no one had called it so the fact that no one was exiting it puzzled him. He went to stand before the elevator doors to examine the thing closer trying to see if he felt any strange presence. Touya did the same. Suddenly a great gust of wind came out of nowhere and sent first Syaoran, then Touya barreling into the empty elevator. Syaoran barely had the time to note that the wind was certainly an odd one considering that they were in a mall nowhere near any doors or windows and that the force on his back felt more like a pair of hands than wind, before the elevator door slammed shut behind him and Touya.  
  
He looked around him suspiciously but felt nothing more amiss as the elevator began to rise although no one had pressed any buttons. Touya had a suspicious scowl on his face as well as he looked about. Seeing no way out and nothing unusual, Syaoran shrugged and just thought that they could get put as soon the elevator stopped at the doors opened. Unfortunately that would not be so. The elevator jerked to a stop between floors and the lights in it began to flicker. The two waited but nothing happened. They both realized with dismay that they were trapped in the elevator alone, together.  
  
With a frown gracing his countenance Touya strode over to the emergency phone located by the elevator doors and picked it up. He heard a few rings before a deep male voice on the other end picked up saying, "Maintenance. What's wrong?"  
  
"What's wrong," Touya growled, "Is that your elevator is not working and two people are stuck in it."  
  
"Impossible!" The voice on the other line replied in disbelief, "We just checked that thing out yesterday and it worked just fine then."  
  
"Well you must not have done that good of a job checking it out because it stopped all of a sudden and I'm trapped in it."  
  
"Hold on. I'll be right down to check on it."  
  
"How long will it take to get it fixed?"  
  
"I don't know, but I'll try to get you out of there as soon as possible. Just hold on. By the way, you could be more polite when asking for assistance." The man said before hanging up.  
  
Touya's scowl deepened, but he knew there was nothing he could do. He almost startled visibly when Syaoran's voice spoke up gruffly asking, "So how long before they can get us out of here?"  
  
"They don't know." Touya replied as he settled himself down in one corner of the elevator, at prepared to wait. Syaoran did the same, but sat in the opposite corner hoping to stay as far away from the older man as possible in the five square feet of space available to them.  
  
*****************************  
  
Christian gave a feral grin as he watched Tomoyo lead his quarry into his trap. He floated above them and watched patiently as they sat down in the benches. He shook his head in exasperation as he watched Touya and Syaoran continue to either glare at each other or ignore each other. He understood now, just how hard it would be to get the two of them to talk, but he was willing to be patient and hope for the best.  
  
His grin widened as he saw Tomoyo leap up and exclaim, "Oh no! I remember now what I forgot to do. I still haven't gotten Touya-san and Li-kun's Christmas gift and it's only a few days before Christmas." He understood how she planned on luring everyone away, and just watched the group in amusement waiting for them to leave. He had to admit, Tomoyo was a great actress, and devious as well. He almost laughed at the comic expression of horror and surprise on Syaoran's face when he knew he would be left alone with Touya, but refrained.  
  
After the group had moved completely away he signaled for Nadeshiko to push the button to call the elevator. The woman did so and then floated to him and smiled saying, "I'll leave the rest up to you Christian-kun. Take care of them." Christian smiled mischievously at her and nodded his head.  
  
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Christian got into position behind Syaoran. When Syaoran stood up to look into the empty elevator curiously, Christian concentrated on solidifying his hands and pushed the brown-haired boy in. Moving quickly over to Touya who was also peering curiously inside the elevator, he did the same and then willed the elevator doors shut.  
  
He flew up to the fuse box for the elevator and waited until the elevator was in the right place and then concentrated on the fuse box, sending out electrical sparks that short-circuited the fuse. Christian smiled with satisfaction as the elevator jerked to an abrupt stop. His job was done. All that was left for him to do was to wait and to make sure no one interfered.  
  
Christian waited patiently for the two dueling boys to even start talking to each other, but to no avail. He peeked in on them every five or so minutes, but every time he did so he just saw them sitting sullenly in opposite corners. After thirty minutes of no progress, he was starting to get really bored. He started pondering whether or not he should just pop in and deliver an ultimatum to the two. He could have told Syaoran that either he and Touya start talking to each other and come to terms with each other, or else he would keep them there until they did. Though Christian stopped himself from carrying through with that idea because he knew it would have been useless threatening those two. He didn't know much about Touya, but he knew that Syaoran was stubborn as a mule. If he had delivered that ultimatum to Syaoran then in all probability the amber-eyed youth would have continued sitting in there in silence just to spite him.  
  
Christian sighed and began regretting having even thought of the stupid plan, after monitoring the two young men for thirty minutes. They stubbornly refused to talk to each other and Christian was getting really tired of watching them. He would have much rather watch Sakura shopping than watch those two sitting sullenly as far from each other as possible. At least with Sakura he could watch her and the other smiling and laughing. With Syaoran and Touya all the two did was glare and scowl at each other. But because he had started it he couldn't back out. His patience was about to be spent completely when he saw to his great relief that a green-eyed angel approaching. He quickly flew over to her hoping to alleviate his boredom.  
  
Sakura frowned in worry as she looked around the benches and saw no sign of Syaoran and Touya. She wondered where the two of them had gone. She saw a man wearing gray-blue overalls bent over some equipment seemingly trying to examine the elevator. She went over to him and tapped him gently on the shoulder. The man looked up and smiled kindly at the beautiful young woman standing before him. She looked to be around eighteen or so, only a few years older than his own daughter. The girl smiled back at him and asked shyly, "Susimasen, demo, have you seen two handsome young men around here? One is around his mid-twenties with black hair and blue eyes and the other is around eighteen with brown hair and amber eyes."  
  
The old man shook his head regretfully as he noticed the worried look on the girl's face, "I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anyone of that description around here."  
  
"Oh. Thank-you. I'm sorry for bothering you."  
  
"It's no bother at all..." The man replied as his eyes widened and realization hit him, "Although I believe there are two young men stuck in that elevator over there. Maybe they're the ones you're looking for."  
  
Sakura frowned as her sense of apprehension deepened and she asked, "How long have they been stuck in there?"   
  
"About forty-five minutes now."  
  
"That's around how long ago we left them. They would never leave without telling Yukito-san or me first so it must be them. Do you know how long it might be before you can get them out?"  
  
Again the man shook his head apologetically replying, "I'm sorry, but I don't know. This elevator should be fine considering that I just checked it yesterday, but obviously something is wrong. It almost seems like this thing is possessed. No matter what I do it won't budge."  
  
"Possessed?" Sakura asked paling. Sure she had come in contact with many beings from the other-side before and even had two friendly ones watching over her and taking care of her, but she had never lost he fear of ghosts.  
  
The man laughed as he noticed her pale face, "I'm sorry, I must have scared you. I was just joking about that possessed thing."  
  
Sakura gave him a weak smiled before bowing politely to him and thanking him for his help. She then began to walk back to Tomoyo, Yukito, and Soujiro, who had been watching her conversation with the man. Her face must have clearly mirrored her worry and apprehension, because as soon as she was close enough Tomoyo asked, "Sakura-chan, what's wrong? Do you know where Li-kun and Touya-san are?"  
  
"Un. I think so." Sakura replied.  
  
"And that's what's worrying you." Tomoyo guessed. "So where are they? Nothing bad happened right?"  
  
"Onii-chan and Syaoran are stuck in the elevator." Sakura replied glancing over at the elevator.  
  
Tomoyo hid a smile as she finally understood what Christian's plan was and said in a mock distressed voice, "That's horrible."  
  
Sakura nodded her head before suddenly brightening. "Maybe I can use magic to get them out."  
  
At Sakura's suggestion, Christian quickly flew down to the group and yelled, "Dame! I worked too hard getting those two to be alone together."  
  
"Christian-kun! What are you doing here?" Sakura cried out in surprise.   
  
Christian smiled sheepishly at her before replying, "Well, Nadeshiko-san and I wanted to make you happy, so we wanted to get Syaoran-kun and Touya-san to get along together. We thought that if only they could talk to each other then they might understand each other better and get along."  
  
"That's sounds like a good idea..."  
  
"Yes. It does doesn't it." Christian cut in beaming, "So since it's such a good idea and it's my plan why don't you leave it up to me. You just go back to shopping and I'll take care of Syaoran-kun and Touya-san. I'm keeping a close eye on them and as soon as they talk I'll let them out."  
  
"I don't know. Onii-chan and Syaoran probably aren't very happy about things right now." Sakura answered.  
  
"I think your friend is right, Sakura-chan. To-ya and Syaoran-kun do need to talk and the only way they'd do it is if they were forced to. Why don't we just continue our Christmas shopping and leave things to your friend?" Yukito suggested.  
  
Christian looked over at the older man in shock, realizing that he could both see and hear him. Yukito smiled sweetly at him before offering his hand to Sakura. Sakura looked at the two of them dubiously before nodding her head in agreement. Turning to Tomoyo and Soujiro she said, "Let's leave them there and continue shopping. Onii-chan and Syaoran can take care of themselves."  
  
Christian smiled at her and flew back to the elevator and poked his head to see if any progress was being made and was happy to see that Syaoran at least was willing to talk.  
  
*****************************  
  
Syaoran and Touya had been sitting in the elevator for about an hour and neither spoke a word to the other. They just each sulked in their respective corners. Several times Syaoran had just wanted to pull his hair out in frustration at how long the maintenance people were taking to fit the stupid elevator, but knowing Touya was there he refused to show any sort of weakness. He assumed that Sakura was back and probably had discovered them gone and worried about what she might have thought. But thinking of Sakura made Syaoran think of how much she had wanted him and Touya to get along. Sighing defeatedly Syaoran decided to take the first step towards peace. Besides the silence in the elevator was starting to become oppressive since he was so used to Sakura and her bright chatter. Taking a deep breath Syaoran asked with all the subtlety and tact of a bulldozer ramming through building, "Why do you hate me? Is it because of that first time with Sakura?"  
  
Touya looked up at the youth in surprise. Syaoran's voice had startled him and sounded immensely loud in the silence that had reigned. He remained silent for several minutes pondering Syaoran's question before replying, "I don't hate you. I just distrust you."  
  
Syaoran looked at Touya in surprise when he replied. After waiting several minutes for the black-haired man to reply, he had given up hope on the man answering his question and the response he got surprised him. Seeing a possible break he persisted and asked, "Why?"  
  
"It's not because of that first time, I've gotten over that."  
  
"Then why?" Syaoran continued to ask.  
  
"Because you took something precious away from me!" Touya replied angrily.  
  
Syaoran sat struck dumb by Touya's reply. He had taken something precious from Touya. He thought for a few moments on what it could have been before realization hit him. "You mean Sakura, right?"  
  
Touya remained stonily silent before saying, "It's not just that though. You hurt her and I can't forgive you for that. Before you say anything, I don't mean physically."  
  
Syaoran absorbed the information quietly before quietly saying, "I don't mean to hurt her. I would never knowingly and willingly hurt her."  
  
"Oh don't you? Don't tell me that you truly believe that you're leaving wouldn't hurt her! You should have known that it would." Touya retorted angrily.  
  
"You're right. I'm sorry." Syaoran replied quietly bowing his head.  
  
Touya looked at the young man before saying, "Before you came and all this business with the cards started she trusted me. Whenever she was in trouble I was always the one to help her or to protect her, but after you came she didn't even trust me enough to tell me what was going on. She started relying on you to help her and protect her. I was willing to let you do it as long as someone protected her even if it wasn't me. After I gave her up for her sake, you went and hurt her by leaving."  
  
"I never meant to hurt her by leaving. I thought she didn't care for me. It never occurred to me how much it might have affected her. I didn't find out until recently what my leaving did to her. I would never intentionally hurt her if I could avoid it. She means everything to me and I want only to protect her and see her happy."  
  
Touya looked appraisingly at Syaoran before sighing and asking, "How far would you go to protect her and make her happy?"  
  
"I would do anything and everything for her happiness. I'd willingly give my life to protect her and if it makes her happy, I'll give her up." Syaoran replied reflecting that he had actually already done both.  
  
"Heh." Touya grunted, "I guess we are the same after all. If you're willing to go that far then you are at least willing to go as far as I would. I guess you aren't so bad kid. At least you're honest and are willing to admit when you've hurt her and feel remorse for it. I won't interfere with the two of you anymore, but if you EVER hurt her, intentionally or unintentionally, you will deal with me."  
  
Syaoran smiled at Touya before promising, "If I ever hurt her intentionally then you are free to do whatever you want to me. I won't guarantee that I won't hurt her unknowingly, but I'll try."  
  
"I guess that'll have to be good enough. Take care of her." Touya told him extending his hand out to Syaoran. Syaoran looked at the hand for a few moments before smiling and reaching his own out to shake it.  
  
"By the way, I was wondering how did Sakura get you to come on this trip with us?" Syaoran asked once he had retracted his hand.  
  
"She begged me." Touya replied tersely not wanting to show Syaoran his soft side.  
  
Syaoran chuckled anyway as Touya glared at him before confessing, "She did the same to me, but at least you weren't there for her to give you puppy dog eyes."  
  
Touya smiled ruefully before disclosing, "Yeah, well when you've lived with her most of your life you'd be surprised at how well you can picture her giving you puppy dog eyes."  
  
Syaoran laughed, "I guess you're right. We really are both alike. We're both suckers that Sakura has wrapped around her little finger without her even being aware of it."  
  
Christian grinned as his plan finally came to fruition, and it appeared as if the koibito and onii-chan had finally made their peace. With no little amount of relief he released his hold on the elevator commanding it to descend and allowing the doors to open.  
  
Syaoran and Touya looked at the open door in surprise before getting up and walking out pretending to ignore each other. The maintenance man just looked at the elevator with a confounded look before shrugging his shoulders, picking up his stuff, and going back to his office.  
  
Syaoran looked around for Sakura but not seeing her turned to Touya and asked, "Where do you think they are? Do you think they've finished shopping for us yet?"  
  
"Who knows. You can never tell with girls and shopping." Touya replied shrugging indifferently.  
  
Christian floated down to Syaoran and tapped him gently on the shoulder. Syaoran turned around and startled with shock. "Mauler! What are you doing here?" he hissed.  
  
"I was just going to tell you that Sakura-san went to that store over there." Christian replied pointing to a department store.  
  
Syaoran glared suspiciously at the smiling ghost and asked, "You trapped us in there didn't you?"  
  
Christian gave him an innocent look before replying, "Do you really think I would do something like that?"  
  
Syaoran grinned and turned to Touya saying, "Let's try that store over there." Touya looked at him a moment before shrugging and setting his course for the department store.  
  
"You know, at least one good thing came out of being stuck in that stupid elevator." Touya said.  
  
"What?" Syaoran asked curious.  
  
"We avoided two hours of shopping."  
  
"That's true." Syaoran said grinning. He hated shopping.  
  
They walked into the store and found Sakura and Tomoyo looking at a skirt. Sakura was asking Tomoyo, "Don't you think this skirt would e nice for Rika-chan?"  
  
"Un. It's very pretty." Tomoyo replied before spotting Touya and Syaoran approaching and waving at them. The two approaching men walked over to join them. Syaoran walked over to Sakura and stood next to her as Touya walked to Yukito.  
  
Christian floated above them with a smug smile and held some mistletoe in his phantom hands. "Well might as well test out how far Touya-san's tolerance goes." he thought. He hung the mistletoe above Sakura and Syaoran's head. Tomoyo aimed her camera upwards right after he finished and smiled. Christian pointed to the mistletoe and then at the couple beneath him.  
  
Tomoyo grinned and cried out cheerfully, "Ohh! Sakura-chan, Li-kun, look!" She pointed at the mistletoe above their heads. The couple blushed crimson and were about to kiss when they both stopped and cast apprehensive looks towards Touya.  
  
Touya, who had been pretending to not notice the two of them looked at them with an annoyed expression before asking gruffly, "What are you two waiting for? You can't break a Christmas tradition." He turned his head away feigning disgust.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran smiled and were only too happy to comply. They leaned in and kissed each other tenderly on the lips as Tomoyo recorded the entire thing allowing only a soft sigh to escape her lips. Soujiro wrapped his arms around her.   
  
Yukito stood next to Touya and smiled at him before whispering in his ear, "So the onii-chan is finally willing to let go."  
  
Touya glared at him before glancing over at the lip-locked couple and smiling indulgently.  



End file.
